Secrets of the Trade
by MiaGrayson
Summary: Robin hasn't been acting like himself lately. He's been doing poorly on missions, lying to his friends, and worst of all; keeping secrets from Batman. But lately Batman has been so busy trying to protect Gotham he hasn't noticed. Will Batman figure out the secrets Robin is keeping before it's too late? DaddyBats/Angst/Hurt/Comfort
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

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When your entire life consists of secrets, how do you justify which are _right_, and which are _wrong_? Where do you draw the line? What is _black_ and what is _white_? Is it a matter of who you are keeping the secrets from? Or maybe even who is benefiting from the secrets. Why is it okay to keep secrets from the thousands of citizens of Gotham, yet wrong to keep secrets from Bruce? How does one weigh a secret, and what makes one secret more dangerous than another? Could a single secret be the death of me? I'm playing with fire, and it's only a matter of time before somebody gets burned.


	2. Chapter 1: Clipped Wings

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, DC Comics, Cartoon network, or anything really. Although, I do own the strange inner workings of my mind from which this story has been created!

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Thank you so so very much to those who reviewed the first chapter: Sairey13, starwarsfan15, 3DPhantom, chibihyu, and Leradomi! Also, special thanks to those who added to favorites/alert: sun711, starwarsfan15, chibihyu, Sairey13, Mario Kart Devil 4 Life, Annime Adiect, sharyvargam, hanayou343, and RobinLover321!

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"Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer."

Norman Mailer

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_**Chapter 1: Clipped Wings**_

Mount Justice 4:16 pm

Saturday, February 8th 2014

Robin

It had been a particularly busy week for the Batman, and in turn, a very boring one for me. A meta-human villain had arrived in Gotham and was out for blood. It was the usual; the villain broke out of Arkham and was on a rampage. All it took was one bad encounter with the villain for Batman to take me off the case. I really hated it when he did that. I got a little scuffed up by the guy, no biggie. I had seen Batman come back from patrols in far worse conditions but that didn't stop him from going back out there.

First it was just the meta-human, then the Joker's usual antics, a random bank robbery or two, and now a new serial killer was on the loose. Not to mention the nightly shoot outs between the North and South gangs of Gotham that were fighting over territory. Once the meta-human was locked up again, I expected to be back by Batman's side again. But I was wrong. Batman wanted me to stay out of Gotham. He told me he would handle Gotham and that at the moment my place was with Young Justice. As the week went on, Gotham only got worse. At least twice Batman had to call in backup from the League, and I know how much he hates other heroes in his city.

I know I shouldn't take it personally. As of recently, Gotham has been turned into a war zone. None of the sidekicks are allowed to patrol there. Was it wrong of me to think just because Gotham was my city I'd get to bend the rules? Maybe, but there was still a sting of betrayal knowing I wasn't allowed to fight by Batman's side. Don't get me wrong, I love the new independence that comes with being a part of Young Justice and branching away from being a side kick, but it's still nice to do the dynamic duo thing with Batman. The day was really starting to look like a disaster, heavy on the dis. At least, that's how it seemed. I had all this pent up energy that was begging to be set loose.

Although I wasn't allowed to fight crime with Batman, I was still allowed to take up missions with Young Justice as long as they weren't in Gotham. The only problem was…Young Justice wasn't receiving any missions. It really wasn't a mystery why either; Batman provided missions and all of his time had been pooled into fighting off criminals in Gotham. The team was just sitting around the cave with identical expressions of boredom.

Superboy was watching static on the tv, Artemis was so bored she resorted to doing homework, and Aqualad was visiting Aquaman in Atlantis. Miss Martian had left about an hour ago to get supplies for an at home movie night (she probably got the idea from an Earth TV show). And then there was Wally, who was bugging Red Tornado for the billionth time for a mission. KF just didn't know when to give up sometimes.

That's when I got an idea that would keep my mind off of Gotham and provide me with entertainment. About a month ago, Batman had a trapeze net set up in the training room. I usually use the trapeze net at the Wayne Manor, one most people didn't know about, but lately I've been staying at the cave. This left me with very little quality time with the trapeze net. Somehow Bruce must have noticed that I missed being able to train on the trapeze equipment, and he had a new net sent to the training room at the cave. That was a month ago though, back when Bruce picked up on all the little things. Now he was so busy I could dye my hair blue and he probably wouldn't notice.

Regardless, a good session on the trapeze bar always put me in a better mood. I left my bored team mates and headed right for the training room. In the middle of the room the trapeze net stood in all its glory, just begging for someone to give it some company. Company I would gladly offer.

In a matter of seconds I had climbed up the ladder and was standing on the platform. Like a look out on a pirate ship, I gazed out across the empty space between myself and the net below. My hands itched with the need to fly across that open space with nothing restricting me. I grabbed hold of the trapeze bar and steadied my grip. In one fluid motion I sprung up from the platform and sailed across the open air.

Without thinking I let out a whoop of joy as I felt the air ripple past me. The feeling of air rushing through my hair and my stomach dropping sent thrills and adrenaline through my system. My mind was sharp, calculating, and ready when I reached the midpoint. Just when I reached the peak of my momentum, I kicked my legs up to increase my speed. Back and forth I swung on the bar, with each round I gained more height and speed. After the third round, I got ready to do my signature quadruple somersault.

Back in my circus days I was famous for my quadruple somersault. It was what set me apart from other acrobats. Because I was a child acrobat, I was tiny and fast. Unlike some of the older acrobats that were at Haley's Circus, I could complete more rotations in my somersaults. I felt a twinge of sadness at the thought. Those were the good days.

I focused my mind back on the task at hand. This was it. I brought my legs up, readied my arms, and then went for the somersault. My body twisted in one rotation, two rotations, three rotations, and then I realized I was about to meet the net sooner than expected. I landed flat on my stomach with my arms out in a safety position. I didn't finish the fourth rotation. Why didn't I finish the forth rotation? I never had a problem with it before.

My mind wasn't focused enough. I was distracted thinking about old memories. This time I would concentrate. I picked myself up and went back to the ladder. As I climbed up, I shook my head as if that would bring back my concentration. At the top of the platform I grabbed the bar again and got ready to swing down.

"Rob!" someone called up to me and I stopped myself just before taking off from the platform. I looked down to see Kid Flash waving at me. I stepped back on the platform and let go of the bar so I could wave back at Wally.

"No missions?" I asked him, but I already knew the answer. Red Tornado would not be giving us any missions any time soon.

"Nope!" Kid Flash called back.

He sat down in front of the net at a safe distance. It wasn't unusual for Wally to watch me while I was on the trapeze bar. I had tried to teach him some tricks before, but the flying acrobatics just weren't for Wally. He was tall and lanky, with very little flexibility or fluidity to his movements. And believe it or not, Wally wasn't particularly fond of heights. After I tried to teach him some tricks, he told me he preferred to keep his feet on the ground. Typical speedster.

I took a deep breath before grabbing the bar again. I've got this. I've done this before, and I can do it again. I took off from the platform and let my body drop in a level swing. The familiar drop of my stomach greeted me and I couldn't help but smile. This time I'd do it for sure. I swung back and forth three times to build up enough height. I brought my legs back, and then launched my body forward and into the air. My legs were tucked in and my body was rotating.

I could sense failure right away. My body just wasn't rotating fast enough. I rotated once, twice, three times, and then only three fourths of the way through the fourth somersault. Like before, I landed in the net on my stomach. I wanted to growl in frustration, which was out of character for me. I sighed and lifted myself up from the net. When I looked over towards Wally, I realized my audience had doubled.

"Your rotations aren't quick enough. Your release point was accurate but even with the correct amount of height, your rotations need to be quicker," Batman said to me in a deadpan voice.

"I don't get it! I was able to do this a month ago, and I'm not doing anything different. I should be able to do this trick," I said back to Batman.

I sounded like a child who hadn't gotten his way and I knew it. But I was frustrated that I couldn't nail the trick. _My _trick. I grabbed the rings at the end of the net and flipped down to ground level.

"You are not as small as you used to be, Robin. You have steadily gone through a growth spurt and have put on weight," Batman responded.

To the untrained ear others would think Batman's voice held the same emotionless deadpan. But someone like me could pick up the tiny change in tone. He sounded drained. Regardless his words still pierced through me. I wasn't as small as I used to be? I put on weight? I hadn't really been paying attention to my weight, but when I think about it, I haven't been eating very healthy.

Recently I had been spending more time at the cave than eating Alfred's cooking. My diet consisted mostly of junk food and frozen meals prepared in the kitchen at Mount Justice. And because of this carelessness I wasn't able to do a quadruple somersault anymore. This realization put a real damper on my mood.

I'd just have to change my diet. I'll start eating healthy again; throw in some extra workouts in between missions. No more junk food. Surely if I did all that I'd be able to do a quadruple somersault again in no time.

I realized a second later that I hadn't responded to Batman. I was so deep in thought I had taken up a moment of silence. Usually Batman would find that suspicious. Usually. But he hadn't seemed to notice my lack of response.

"Right," I responded lamely, "So do we have a mission?" I asked hopefully.

"No. I am only here to give a report to Red Tornado to pass along to other members of the League. I need to return to Gotham," said Batman.

And just like that he left the training room without a word more. I couldn't believe he was going back out there already. I could tell he was tired, yet it wasn't out of character for him to push himself beyond his limits.

Wally shared an exasperated sigh with me when we came to the same conclusion: as long as there was chaos in Gotham, Young Justice wouldn't be doing anything exciting. I could already predict the training sessions we'd be having with Black Canary so it didn't seem like we were doing absolutely nothing. Oddly, I was ok with that. If we weren't going to be on missions for the next few days the least we could do is get a good work out. I seriously needed to get back into shape.

"So M'gann invited me to movie night," Wally started with a wiggle of his eye brows.

I shook my head. Wally was at it again.

"She invited _all _of us, KF," I reminded him.

He seemed to forget details like that. Especially when it came to M'gann. I almost felt bad for Wally, it was very clear that she had a thing for Superboy. At least, it was very clear to me. One day someone was going to have to break it to him, and I certainly didn't want to be that someone.

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Around seven o'clock six teenagers, including myself, crammed our way onto the green couches in the lounge. As usual we couldn't agree on one movie, so we decided to have a marathon of comedy, action, and sci-fi. Unfortunately for M'gann the majority overruled her romance pick.

The smell of popcorn wafted into the lounge from the kitchen and once the timer on the microwave went off Wally ran to get it. M'gann pulled out a plastic shopping bag and started to distribute everyone's favorites. She handed me a box of chocolate chip cookies that looked absolutely amazing. Automatically I went to grab one of the cookies and shove it in my mouth. But I stopped myself remembering I was supposed to start eating healthy. M'gann seemed to notice.

"Aren't chocolate chip cookies your favorite? I tried to get everyone's favorite snack when I went shopping," she said and from the tone of her voice I could tell she was crestfallen.

I felt guilty rejecting her offering that she obviously took the time to get, but if I caved in now I would never keep up with eating healthy.

"Thank you, Miss M., it was very thoughtful of you. But I'm actually on a health kick right now," I said, trying to amend the situation.

"Health kick? Is that something Batman is making you do?" Wally asked incredulously. The idea didn't seem to settle well with him.

"No, I'm just trying to stay in shape is all," I answered back. I felt myself becoming defensive.

"But you're 13!" Wally argued back.

Everyone had turned their attention away from the movie and directed it towards me. Honestly it was making me uncomfortable.

Artemis scoffed, "Not everyone has a super metabolism, Baywatch."

Superboy groaned with impatience. "Can we just get back to watching the movie?" he asked.

Although I was grateful that Superboy was starting to break up the little dispute, I highly doubted he knew he was doing me a favor.

"Yes, shall we continue the team bonding over movie night?" Aqualad asked.

Everyone quieted down and we went back to watching the movie. The lights were dimmed and occasionally there were sounds of crunching and slurping. A bowl of popcorn made its way around the room, making a permanent stop at Wally.

I didn't pay much attention to the movie. I was pulled out of my thoughts when a bright light burned my eyes and made me blink. My team mates were getting up and stretching their arms and legs. With a glance at the clock I realized it was past midnight.

We exchanged a chorus of "goodnight" and "see ya tomorrow" with each other. As I have been for the past week, I stayed at the cave. None of us had official rooms, but some time back we all picked out temporary rooms to stash our stuff in and sleep in when it was too late to go home after a mission.

Without bothering to change out of my uniform I plopped down back first onto the bed. I turned on my side and grabbed the cube shaped alarm clock. For a moment I contemplated what time I wanted to get up. Sighing, I set it for five a.m. even though tomorrow was Sunday. If I was going to be serious about getting in better shape, I would need to wake up earlier than usual.

I lay back down and began to formulate a plan in my head. I'd wake up early and go for a run. I could be back before anyone else was even up. Black Canary's combat training was at eight sharp. With a plan in mind, I finally let myself drift off to sleep.

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~I hope you guys liked the first chapter! Thank you oh so very much for reading! I truly appreciate it! :)


	3. Chapter 2: Winner

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, DC Comics, Cartoon network, or anything really. Although, I do own the strange inner workings of my mind from which this story has been created!

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Thank you so so very much to those who reviewed: Sairey13, KaliAnn, owlcat92, janzen222, chibihyu, AnimatorWriter, and stealthshadow2013.

Special thanks to all those who added to alert/favorites: Soundtrack-Fanatic, SpringRain13, Akuma no Bara, blacktarget, fireheart12, The Homunculi Twins, Void of Anguish, lovelessfighterbeloved1, boredlittleduckling, owlcat92, janzen222, Dave01234, Radioactive Cupcakes, zombiekillingtigeress, sharyvargam, FuzzyBee013, and LeaderOfTheSaints.

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"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened."

Wilma Rudolph

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**Chapter 2: Winner**

Mount Justice 5:00 am

Sunday, February 9th 2014

Robin

At promptly five a.m. my alarm clock reminded me that I had set it for the ungodly hour. I let out a soft groan and put the pillow over my head. Regardless the blaring alarm kept going and I could hear it through the pillow. I didn't want to get up. The blankets were so warm, and I was so comfortable. And who in their right mind wants to get up at five in the morning to go for a run? Eight o'clock I was fine with, but five o'clock was so early! I didn't even get up for school that early.

_Come on, Dick, get up already! You're burning through limited time here. Get your lazy butt out of bed and go for a run! You're not getting any closer to doing a quadruple somersault by lying in bed!_

Unfortunately I knew the voice in my head was right. I pushed the blankets aside and pulled myself out of bed. I looked in the mirror and ran a hand through my unruly hair. Before I knew it, I had changed and slipped on a pair of running shoes. I gave one last longing glance at my bed before leaving the room.

No one was up, and I mean no one. Even Red Tornado had gone into sleep mode. I opened the bay doors for myself and stepped out into the crisp morning air. It was cool and refreshing, so I took a deep breath in. Before I took off, I sat down in the grass and stretched out my legs and back. Batman would kill me if I ended up pulling a muscle.

_Would he? Batman probably wouldn't even notice. And if you did sprain something, it wouldn't matter. Young Justice might not get any exciting missions for another week. All because Batman doesn't care. But you know who does care? Alfred. Why don't you visit him anymore? It's been forever since you've been at the Wayne Manor._

I tried to block out that voice in the back of my head. Batman cares, I know he does. He's just busy right now, that's all. Although, I haven't seen Alfred in a long time. Now stretched, I got up and began my run. The area around Mount Justice was great; filled with lots of hills for resistance. I had planned on running for an hour. That's usually how long it took me to do a complete circle around the base. A majority of the time had gone by and I was ready to do a cool down jog when the voice in the back of my head appeared again.

_Really Dick? That's all you're going to do? You couldn't have burned more than 600 calories. And you probably ate three times that in junk food yesterday. Go a little longer._

I really just wanted to be done. I still had combat training today at eight o'clock with the team and Black Canary.

_That's the way you want to be? Lazy? No wonder you can't land the quadruple somersault! You've been slacking off and this is what you get. I'll make you a deal. You can either go for thirty more minutes today or do two laps tomorrow instead of only one. Your choice._

I sighed in defeat. What was thirty more minutes? Sure I'd be a little sore after combat training, but I could deal with it. I took another thirty minutes to run and by the end the back of my shirt was slightly dampened. It was now six thirty, which would still give me enough time to shower and make breakfast before combat training at eight. I opened the bay doors and went back into the cave. The first thing I did was take that shower.

The warm water felt so good I wanted to stay in the shower all morning. Although, I shouldn't be sore. It was just a run around the mountain. Am I really that out of shape? I can't be. I only feel achy because it's so early in the morning. Yeah, that's it.

I finished my shower, stepped out, and wrapped a towel around my waist. When I passed by the fogged mirror, I couldn't help but stare back at the person standing there. I wiped away the fog on the mirror to get a better look.

_That's right, Dick, get a good look. This is what you've let yourself become. And you're only 13, soon to be 14. What's going to happen when you turn 30? Are you going to let yourself go completely? You can barely see your six pack anymore. How could you have let this happen? But don't worry, I'm going to get us out of this. We're going to work hard, and then you'll be back to where you should be._

All other thoughts were blocked out when I felt my stomach grumble. I suppose this was my stomach's way of reminding me that it was time to eat breakfast. I threw on a clean uniform and went to the kitchen to make something to eat.

While I combed through the cabinets for something to eat, I started to do the calculations in my head. My bmr was just about 1,500 calories. My extra work out burned around 600. And training sessions with Black Canary probably burned about 500 as well. That's 1,100 calories burned a day from working out. Add that to the 1,500 calories gives me 2,600 calories. If I want to lose a pound a week, I'd take out 500 calories. But a pound a week is so slow…I'll take out 1,000 calories and lose 2 pounds a week. That means I can still eat 1,600 calories a day.

1,600 sounded like a big number to me, and I was happy. This was going to be easy! I started to get out the ingredients for something Alfred used to make me for breakfast; his famous breakfast wrap. Although I knew it wouldn't turn out as good as his, it sounded like a healthier option than the sugary breakfast cereals that were stuffed in the cabinets.

All I needed was 2 eggs, four pieces of bacon, 1/2 a cup of cheese, and a tortilla to wrap it all in. With each ingredient I pulled out, I kept track of the calories. 140, 180, 220, and 140. A total of 680 calories. I stood there a bit shocked. One meal was already 680 calories? I still had a budget of 920 calories left, but I was still shocked. I ate stuff like this all the time, and I had no idea there were so many calories.

My stomach grumbled again and I pushed those thoughts aside. I cooked the food anyway, telling myself I'd just eat smaller proportions through the day to stay under my limit. Just as I had suspected, my breakfast wrap didn't taste as good as Alfred's, but it was still pretty good. I went to the fridge to grab a cup of orange juice, but decided to go with water instead when I saw the orange juice would add an additional 110 calories. And all that sugar. How had I never noticed these things before?

By the time I had finished my breakfast, the rest of my team mates were starting to get up. It was 7:30 am and combat training would start in 30 minutes. I went to the training room and waited for the others. They slowly trickled in, rubbing their eyes and yawning as if eight in the morning was too early for them. The minutes went by so slow and I was tempted to crawl back into bed for the remaining ten minutes I still had left.

But I didn't, and eight o'clock sharp Black Canary entered the training room.

"Team, I hope you're ready for a challenge; we're stepping up our game today. The league has designed a new training course that we want your team to test out. Think of it as an agility course with some league modifications. Your team will be the first to try it," Black Canary said, taking center stage while she talked to us.

Immediately after Kid Flash's hand shot up into the air and he was practically jumping up and down with his question.

"Yes…Wally?" Black Canary asked with a raised eye brow.

"Now when you say 'test out' the training course, does that mean we're like, guinea pigs?" Wally asked skeptically.

"Just ignore Mr. Paranoid over here," Artemis said with a playful smirk.

"Hey!"

Kaldur sighed and stepped forward. "Where is the location of this agility course?" he asked.

Black Canary pressed the palm of her hand to the bridge between her eyebrows.

"The agility course is off site. We will travel by zeta beam as soon as the team is ready," she answered.

"We're ready, let's go," Superboy said.

Black Canary gave a curt nod and walked over to the zeta beam. Her fingers nimbly typed in the coordinates and the zeta beam sparked to life. One by one the team stepped through and we were beamed to the agility course.

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When I stepped out, I knew right away we weren't in Happy Harbor anymore. The temperature was warmer and the air seemed lighter. My best guess would be Colorado. Before me stood a gymnast's paradise. The obstacle course was even better than I had expected. Bars, platforms, ropes, underpasses, blocks, and then some automated weapons to keep things interesting. I felt giddy with excitement.

Black Canary stepped forward and stood before the group. She held up a thin, black bracelet in the air for them to see. "This, is going to be crucial to your training on this obstacle course. It will measure your time, heart rate, and I'm sure you'll find one more feature of it particularly interesting. To keep you motivated, by the end of this exercise we'll compare times and see who had the best run."

The bracelets were passed around and we curiously slapped them on our wrists. I examined the bracelets carefully and found just what I expected; Wayne tech. I assumed this was another one of Lucius's inventions, one solely made for Bruce's personal collection of tech.

"Hey, what gives?" Superboy griped after putting his bracelet on.

A sly smile came to Black Canary's face.

"The bracelets inhibit super powers. I'm going to train you to be diverse fighters, which means not relying on your super powers," Black Canary said. "Now, who's first?"

Artemis and I exchanged a smile. This time, the advantage was on our side.

This was my chance prove my abilities. Batman would surely want to see the results of this exercise, and I wanted him to see I was on top. Usually I would volunteer to go first, but I wanted to watch someone else. I wasn't going to be fooled by the obstacle course. There were obviously hidden traps and weapons. I'd let someone else go first, so they could fall for all the traps and I'd learn where not to go.

"I don't need my powers to do this," Superboy growled and stood in front of the obstacle course. "I'm ready!" he shouted to Black Canary.

"The course is ready. Go ahead," Black Canary said.

Superboy was going to have trouble with the course, I could already tell. And it wasn't because he wasn't capable of fighting without his powers. He was too eager to prove something; too headstrong. All he cared about was showing he was more than just Superman's clone. He was eager to please Superman, to show he was worthy of wearing the S symbol. I could relate to that, but barreling through the course with impulsive tendencies and carelessness wasn't going to get him there.

The course started to shift and form around Superboy, closing him in. He vaulted over one of the blocks and aimed a punch at an automated laser that was shooting at him. The laser exploded in a cloud of smoke and before Superboy could move out of the way, a small explosion was activated. Note to self, a chain reaction occurs after the lasers are destroyed. Avoid explosion.

More surprises awaited Superboy, such as trap doors, freezing agents, robot soldiers appearing from underground passages, and stun guns. Lots of stun guns. He finally finished the obstacle courses with a time of 20 minutes and 42 seconds. In all fairness, he was at a disadvantage being the first one to go. Now I knew what to expect.

It was my turn now. I stepped up to the starting point and got ready with a determined smile on my face. Black Canary gave me a nod, signaling I could go.

I sprinted forward, vaulting off the first wall in my way and jumping down to the side. After watching Superboy I learned if I landed directly in front of the wall I would have fallen into a trap. In an instant I was being trailed by a shower of laser shots, and I ducked and rolled to avoid them. I looked down at my bracelet to see an increase in heart rate. My breathing picked up but I was used to the familiar feeling. I continued on with the obstacle courses until I was delayed by one of the robotic soldiers.

The robot drew a sword and sliced down towards my shoulder, which I quickly side stepped. I returned his attack with a back spin kick towards its head. There was a satisfying clunk as the face of the robot was smashed in. It didn't stop yet and sent an iron fist towards my torso. I did a back handspring to avoid the fist and then punched the robot in the center where its core should be. There was a spark and I quickly jumped away from the robot before it exploded.

Now the fun part. I climbed up one of the taller walls where the rope swing awaited me. I gripped the rope with both my hands before swinging down towards the end of the course. It reminded me of the flying trapeze, which only escalated my mood. I landed with a flip and put my arms up in the air like the gymnast I was. I looked down at my bracelet to see the time 14 minutes and 29 seconds flashing back at me. Not bad.

For the remainder of the time, we took turns practicing on the obstacle course. With each round, we all improved our times. So far Artemis and I were on top; no surprise there. Wally was really suffering. As it was, he was never a very strong fighter. Once you take away his speed, he's completely out of his element. After my fifth and final round on the obstacle course, I was worn out. I just wanted to lie down on the ground and let my aching muscles throb.

Black Canary brought us all back together, and from the look on her face, I think she was pretty satisfied with our training.

"Good work today. From the looks on your faces, I'd say this was a good learning experience for everyone. Regular modifications will be made to the course and I encourage you to practice on it in your free time."

"And the best time?" Kaldur asked.

Black Canary looked down at the device in her hands.

"The best time was Robin, at 9 minutes and 17 seconds," Black Canary reported.

I couldn't help the grin that came to my face. I did it. I got the best time. And when Batman saw it, he'd be proud.

"May we return to base now?" Kaldur asked Black Canary. She gave him a nod and we all walked back to the zeta together.

I couldn't wait to get back to base. All I wanted to do was get some sleep. My body needed a break after my morning workout and that obstacle course. We walked through the zeta and were brought back to base. I had only taken a few steps into the cave when I heard the familiar beeping of an incoming video message on the main computer.

"Team, report," Batman's voice echoed off the walls.

We gathered around the computer and Wally was practically jumping up and down with excitement. Batman wouldn't have bothered with a video session unless we had a mission.

"The Metropolis police have requested aid in a hostage situation. The perpetrator has been unidentified. Proceed with caution. Coordinates have been sent. Remain vigilant and do not separate," Batman advised. "Report back once you return."

Then, just as quickly as he appeared, Batman vanished from the screen. A map was immediately pulled up with a red dot blinking over the train station in Metropolis.

"We have a mission!" M'gann said cheerfully.

I felt anything but cheerful. I was just thinking about how nice sleep would be. But then again, this was another opportunity for me to prove to Batman I was ready to take on the big missions. Maybe, just maybe, if this mission went really well, he'd let me patrol Gotham again.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kid Flash said, edging towards the jet hanger.

Aqualad nodded. "Team, we have our mission. Let us depart."

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Well, I can't believe it took me so long to update. My sincere apologies. Writer's block plus other stuff kept me from getting this chapter up. But, I promise that won't happen again. Back to regular updates. Here's a little preview for the next chapter:

"_Master Bruce, a moment if you will," Alfred requested as Bruce crossed through the dining room and towards the grandfather clock. _

"_I'm afraid I don't have the time right now, Alfred," Bruce said as he turned the hands on the grandfather clock._

_Alfred's tone turned stern, "This concerns Master Dick. I advise you make time." _


End file.
